Pacing the Edge
by Queen of the Faeries1
Summary: They drove her to the very edges of insanity. Not magic this time, but human nature itself. How could she have thought a sorceress could exist in the times of humans? Again, this is a fic by me and Lady Katerina.
1. Seeing the Edge

Pacing the Edge

~Queen of the Faeries~'s notes: I created this story because I hated how everyone portrayed Rinoa as a stupid little ditz who didn't know what was going on. Besides, being a Sorceress must have some traumatic effect on her psychological condition, not to mention the prejudice that she would face, seeing as how SeeD was created to destroy her. Anyway, enjoy. 

**__**

Pacing the Edge

"Just show her around, okay? I have some things that need to be taken care of. Take her to the training center, show her what we've done to it. I'll be back in an hour or so." 

No one could have ever predicted what those words started. 

Rinoa glared at his back as he disappeared into the elevator, which would of course take him up to his office on the third floor, where, undoubtedly, a massive pile of paperwork would be waiting for him. That was what was wrong with being Commander of an enormous operation like SeeD. All the paperwork that had to be done took up half of his time. Even if she had just returned from being in Deling City for a month, he barely had time to give her a welcome-back kiss. 

And he didn't have to send one of his SeeDs to show her around Garden. It wasn't like she had never been here before. Besides, she was more than capable of walking around the Garden by herself. After all, she _did_ have the power of two powerful Sorceresses inside her. But it was just Squall's way of protecting her. Sometimes he babied her too much and it annoyed her. 

She looked around. Damn, she never thought she would miss Garden so much. It had only been a month since she went back to Deling City to take care of the life she left behind, but the entire lobby had changed. She knew that Selphie had managed to convince Squall to let her redecorate the lobby, which had been scarred by the multiple battles Garden had been through. The ceiling, high above, was no longer the same shade of pale peach it had been before, but a velvety black color, dotted with diamonds. It looked like -no it was- a model of the nighttime sky. 

"Weren't you here before? I know I've seen you around." The SeeD said to her. He was tall, with long blonde hair. 

"Yeah. My name is Rinoa." She told him.

He held out his hand. "Justin. Hi."

"Are you a SeeD?"

"Yeah. Rank 14. You?"

"Not a SeeD yet." She answered him truthfully. She had changed drastically since the second Sorceress War, both in physical power and her worldly wisdom. "I've been here for a while, before. In fact, I think the dorm I was assigned is still open. Did you guys redecorate?"

"Yeah, the ceiling's new. Isn't it nice?"

"Very."

The boy named Justin led her around the Garden, showing her the eight different sections until she held up a hand and stopped him. "Not to be rude or anything," She said mildly. "But I've seen this all before. I live here. But Squall said something about a new part of the Training Center?" 

"Sure. We added on a whole new extension, and the monsters are much harder." 

The Training Center was larger and denser than before, the trees so tightly woven, it would be hard to jump from tree to tree without hitting your head on an outstretched branch. Rinoa could see a Marlboro in the distance. "They've improved the monsters too." She started off in one particular direction.

"Wait, not that way!" Justin yelled.

The yelling was what probably attracted the T-rexaur's attention. 

At first she was startled; she had forgotten what its roar sounded like. Justin probably thought, from the frightened look that took over her face, that she didn't know what was going on, so he gestured for her to stay in the tree while he pulled out a double-barreled shotgun, aiming.

The dinosaur lunged, and the marksman's aim went wide, nearly taking her head off.

"I've got it!" She screamed, running forward and splaying her fingers. "Break!" 

The pillar of rock thrust upward out of the ground and knocked the T-rexaur to its side. It wasn't as powerful as it could have been if she hadn't been wearing the Odine ring, but it did the job. She watched as it spread over its body until it became nothing but a statue and it toppled over with a heavy thud that reverberated around the Center. 

Justin climbed to his feet, eyes narrowed. "Powerful spell." He commented. "Usually those blasted Breaks miss."

She shrugged nervously. "I've got some pretty high stats on my magic." She told him honestly. "Are you okay? The T-rexaur knocked you pretty hard." 

"Fine. Pride got wounded, that's all." Now it was his turn to shrug. "You still want to see the other part of the Training Center?"

The other part of the Training Center reminded Rinoa of a room she had seen in Galbadia Garden at one time. It was a room like a gym at the very end of the Training Center, where there was equipment of all kinds, complete with gymnastics mats and parallel bars.

She looked around at all the cadets training and felt a strange sense to fight. _I wonder if any of them could stand up to my magic?_ But Justin shook his head and headed to the back of the room, to yet another new section. She followed, twirling the ring on her finger. To a normal person, it was just a ring with a strange spider design, but to those who knew, it was an Odine product, designed specifically for her, to repress her powers. 

This one was a room specifically designed for sparring. Two walls are entirely covered with weapons to choose from, from the common pistol to the more exotic Katal blades. The center was undecorated. The floor was laid with a thick blue mat, where several pairs of people could spar. Right now it was a class for about fifteen cadets. The instructor was barely a few years older than Quistis was.

He was teaching them something about tripping the opponent. Rinoa smiled. She had learned more than politics on her visit back home. General Caraway had also insisted that she learned more about empty-handed fighting. The Sorceress blood running through her veins had heightened some parts of her mind, and she had learned more than a few things. 

She twirled the ring again once more, watching. 

Discreetly, maybe to humble the innocent-looking girl for defeating the T-rexaur while it nearly sent him into KO, Justin moved his foot to trip her, the way the Instructor was teaching the cadets. 

But she had learned the counter from one of her father's friends. She leapt into the air, using his shoulder as a boost and flipped behind him, pushing the small of his back with her palm, sending him sprawling forward. The class stopped their lesson to stare. Justin got up, eyes blazing with humiliation.

"I'm sorry." Rinoa told him sincerely. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

He didn't reply, but his gaze was answer enough.

"That's pretty impressive." The Instructor called, eyebrows raised. "Care to show the class?"

Feeling rather embarrassed now, she moved to the front of the class, where the man tried the tripping method. She repeated what she did to Justin, and the teacher fell to the mat.

"Not bad." He admitted, accepting her hand up. "You a SeeD?"

"Trying." Rinoa answered, in half-truth. 

The instructor and Justin exchanged a long glance, and the teacher nodded, obviously agreeing on something. The older one moved forward, aiming to hit her with his shoulder.

She had seen this before, when she sparred with her father. She spun to the side, a dancing move intertwined with fighting, ending up behind him. She grabbed his shoulders and dug her knee into his back. Twisting again, she tossed him over her shoulder so that he landed with a heavy thud on the mat. 

Rinoa stumbled at the weight and fell to her hands and knees. The ring, which had always been too loose, slipped off her finger and onto the floor. When she recovered, the black dots fading from her vision, there were weapons pointed at her throat. 

She backed away uneasily, to find the tip of a sword jabbing into her back, not enough to break skin, but enough to be menacing. 

"H-hey," She called nervously, staring at the array of weapons all aimed at her. The cadets' eyes were blazing with hate. "What…what's going on?"

"I knew it." Justin spat. "The way your spell worked. And this," he held up the ring that had fallen off her hand. "Is an Odine ring." 

Rinoa flinched.

The instructor had drawn his own sword to dig into her sternum. This is bad. Quistis had once told her that the instructors _never_ draw their own weapons -especially against a younger person- unless it was serious. "You're a Sorceress." He said with equal hate. "A demon bitch, daughter of the devil." 

She swallowed, knowing what would happen next

By the time Squall found her, she was sure her neck would be lacerated for a month. 

They had each grabbed some loose cords or other, whips or even belts, stringing them around her neck like nooses. Each of them had hold of one, yanking on it. The cords tightened around her neck and she gagged. 

She stumbled as she was jostled every which way and she tried to resist. The cords only tightened, and the cadets were laughing, leering. She was lurched around, and would have toppled over if the cadets on the opposite side of her hadn't pulled back, maliciously.

Even the instructor was there. He had two of the cords, and he was pulling the hardest. Something flickered in her mind, a memory of something…

"You're unholy. You shouldn't even exist."

"You're a Sorceress, bitch. You kill people." Insults were flung at her face and she refused to let the tears well up in her eyes. 

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" 

Squall's demanding voice made all the students stop, and the instructor paused, all of them looking up.

"What are you doing that that young woman?"

The instructor let go of the cord he had been holding, stepping in front of Rinoa like a wildcat protecting its kill from rivals. "She's not a young woman, sir. She's a Sorceress."

"Let her go!" Squall snarled. 

Rinoa had never heard his voice like that before, commanding and forceful and absolutely fierce. 

"No sir. With all due respect, this bitch deserves to die. She's a Sorceress and we're SeeDs. We're supposed to kill her."

When the instructor didn't step aside, Squall shoved past him, pushing him to the floor.

"_Move!_" He thundered at the students, and they scattered quickly.

With the weapon that he was never seen without, he cut the cords off her neck, his hands tender but full of repressed anger at the same time. Rinoa could see the red bruises and the raised blisters there without even looking. 

"She's a Sorceress, sir!" Justin protested fiercely. "She deserves to die! We're SeeDs! We were meant to assassinate Sorceresses!" 

"No we weren't. Those times are over. We are meant to be mercenaries, not some sort of witch hunters." Squall loosened the cords and helped the Sorceress to her feet. "Rinoa, are you all right?"

"Fine." There were tears in her eyes. "Please let me get out of here." 

The students scattered as Squall took her wrist and nearly dragged her out of the horrid room. "Justin Koa and Instructor Levay. Both your ranks shall be dropped for this exhibit of irresponsibility. No excuses."

He led her out of the Training Center, ignoring the looks of the students in the hallway. One of the girls, a petite redhead, was nice enough to ask Rinoa if she was all right, and she tried to smile in response.

Once in the empty hallway into the Infirmary, Squall apologized.

"I'm sorry, Rinoa. That shouldn't have happened."

"Hey, how were you supposed to know that there would be some vigilante SeeDs that didn't agree with your way of thinking?" She said, even though talking hurt. The pain was like a sore throat, only on the outside. 

"I shouldn't have let you go off with Justin by yourself. He's always been a little high strung about this entire SeeDs killing Sorceresses thing." Squall put his right hand on the control panel on the outside of the door, and it automatically slid open. His face was set like marble. "Damn it. And right after I told you that times have changed and no one gets hurt for being different." 

__

"Squall, aren't SeeDs supposed to kill Sorceresses?" 

"That's what it originally started out to be, as a line of defense against Sorceresses. But not anymore. We went against Ultimecia and Adel because they were a threat to us. We wouldn't specifically target innocents."

Rinoa considered his words. During the first mission, in Timber, he had said that he would do anything to get on the train out of there. That one statement had made clear to her just how serious he was in his work, and how callous he could be. But after the Second Sorceress War, SeeD had changed. They were still mercenaries for hire, but often with qualms, rejecting missions that were immoral. "So you're sure that they won't hate me just because I'm a Sorceress?"

"I'm sure. The Burning Times were over thousands of years ago. We're past the times when people were persecuted just for being different." 

"It's fine. Really." She followed him inside. The office was empty, and Dr. Kadowaki had warned the students never to go into the back room unless it was an emergency, so she simply sat down in one of those comfortable plastic chairs that always seemed to lean away from you. "Being a Sorceress is being different. Many of the humans are just like that. I understood this when I first received my power. I…expected something like this would happen at one point or another. They think that I deserved it."

"Deserved what?" A feminine voice came from the back room, but it was far too young to be Dr. Kadowaki. In a few seconds, a tall slender young woman stepped into the room, a large box blocking her view. Quistis. "What's going on? Ow!" 

Squall automatically caught the box before it fell and helped her put it onto the desk. "Where's Dr. Kadowaki?" 

"She's been working too hard lately. So I told her that she needed a break, to go visit her family, and I volunteered to take over the Infirmary for a while. If it was an emergency, I would call her, but what's going on? Why do you need to see her?" 

Squall simply inclined his head toward the waiting room. Quistis frowned, walking over to where Rinoa was sitting. _Didn't she just return from trying to reconcile things with her father? Is she in trouble already?_

The raven-haired young woman lifted her head and in the whiteness of the infirmary, the thin rivulets of blood seemed particularly frightening.

"What happened?" Quistis demanded. "This wasn't an accident."

"I…One of the SeeDs was showing me around Garden, because I wanted to see what was redecorated. My Odine product fell off and they realized I was a Sorceress."

"Enough said." The instructor's eyes were suddenly cold. "I can't believe they would do something like that."

Rinoa shrugged, and her cold dismissal of the event shocked both Quistis and Squall. "I'm a Sorceress now. I'm going to have to get used to it."

"Ow!" Rinoa brought in her breath in a sharp hiss.

Quistis frowned, dabbing at her neck with some vile liquid. "Stop fidgeting. This'll prevent infections."

They had brought the other three members of their team into the infirmary to discuss this, and while Rinoa found it unnecessary, they seemed enraged, with Irvine muttering things and Zell shadowboxing "Wow, they're super-mega-creeps!" Selphie exclaimed. "Who were they?" 

"I don't know. I don't know a lot of the students here." Rinoa answered, but she knew she was lying. She knew the name of almost every old student here, and given an hour or so, she could have figured out who were the ones that nearly strangled her. "Ow!" 

The door slid open again, and a cool presence walked in, volatile as the air. "Aw, the whole team is having a meeting, and I wasn't invited?" he put a gloved hand against his chest, feigning hurt. "I'm devastated."

"Go away, Seifer." Squall said through his teeth. "We don't have time to deal with you." 

"Squall." Rinoa muttered. 

Seifer had been readmitted into Garden about two months ago, as Fujin and Raijin had convinced him to try and make up for the things he did in the past. Though those two were his loyal "followers", they also wanted to do what was best for him, and SeeD was probably what was best. Rinoa had managed to persuade Squall to let Seifer back into Garden. Actually, Seifer was different now. He wasn't quite so vain or arrogant anymore, and he was starting to take his studies seriously. He had changed drastically. 

Yes, well, Ultimecia did that to a person. That bitch had the capability to turn your personality inside out. 

Seifer had formed something of an alliance with the team. If they didn't hold his past against him, he didn't bother them. He had also developed a sort of strong brotherly instinct for Rinoa and it wasn't rare to see most of the entire team and the posse laughing at something together. 

"Calm down, puber-ermm, Squall," Seifer quickly corrected himself. "I was just in here to pick up some healing salve. Fuu cut her hand."

"Unnecessary." She said quietly from behind him. 

He ignored her. Her hand was going to get infected. Why did she have to be so damn cold most of the time? "Where's the salve? And what the hell are you all doing in here anyway?" His eyes narrowed. "Rinoa, what happened to you?" 

"Hi. Slight welcome-back problems." She answered.

His face darkened, but his eyes were questioning. Irvine, who had not held a grudge against Seifer, walked over and spoke rapidly. 

"I'll _kill_ them!" He roared, all but flying toward the door before both Squall and Raijin pushed him back. 

"_Sheung."_ Rinoa spoke quietly, using the affectionate Chinese term for older brother. "It's all right."

Seifer started to say something again, until she glared at him, and he became silent. 

"All right. All of you get back to what you were doing." Squall took charge again. "Seifer, the healing salve is on that shelf over there. The rest of you, get back to your classes. Rinoa, I think you should probably stay out of sight until we manage to settle this. Those students…might not be the only ones who feel that way." He chose his words carefully. "I'm going to assign you to a different dorm, okay? A single dormitory."

"Cool. Only the SeeDs get those." Rinoa smiled, but it was a smile that didn't reach her eyes. 

__

"No! Why are you doing this! I've never hurt you!" 

The voice echoed in her mind. She twisted in the bed. The voice sounded almost like hers, but that was impossible; this had never happened to her. She would have remembered it, GF or not.

__

"Leave me alone! Go away!" A scream, followed by a sickening thud. 

Rinoa's eyes snapped open and she muffled a reflexive scream. Not only because the scars on her neck had opened up again in her restless tossing and turning but because the emotions of the person was still lingering in her mind. 

Fear. Terror. Betrayal. Hurt. Anger. Horror. An unknown fear like a claustrophobic person would feel if she were stuffed into a pickle jar. It kept in her mind, so that she continued to feel unease, looking over her shoulder. 

Whoever it was that was trying to call out to her, that person did not deserve whatever had happened to her. No one was meant to feel fear like that. Rinoa shuddered in fear and grabbed her cloak. She needed to talk to someone.

"Quisty?" 

The infirmary seemed dark and haunting at this time of the night. Rinoa clutched the hood of her cloak tighter around her face. _Did any of the students see me?_ "Quistis?" She called again.

A silhouette appeared against the moonlight in the window, and the light switched on. Rinoa shut her eyes until her pupils shrank to the size where it wouldn't hurt in bright light. She looked up through the edge of her hood and saw the blonde hair framing Instructor's face. 

"Are you all right?" Quistis asked immediately, and the warmth and concern in her voice was touching.

"I...The scars opened up again. Do you have any more of that healing liquid?"

"Yeah, sure. Just sit down. I'll go get it."

She returned with a small bottle in her hands. "Hold still. Does it still hurt?"

Rinoa shook her head slightly. "No. Not that much anymore."

"Physically?"

She stared at the instructor for a moment before nodding sadly. "Even Garden's modern medicine can only help physical wounds. The emotional ones are the ones that I have to heal by myself…" She watched as Quistis screwed the bottle cap back on and replaced it on the desk. "Quistis? How come humans hate me so much?"

Quistis shook her head. "I don't know. Someone once said that whatever humans didn't understand, they feared and whatever they feared, they destroyed. It seems that this is true."

"But I've never done anything to hurt them…as a Sorceress anyway. Maybe as a member of the Timber Owls, some people might have gotten hurt because of me, but that was when I was mortal."

"I don't understand either. There are a lot of evil things in the world. Maybe humans just want a scapegoat."

"But I don't want to hurt them. I just want to help them." Rinoa said quietly. "My kind is not so different from your kind."

__

Already she has separated herself from us. Quistis thought sadly. _Her kind. Our kind? Humankind? But we are all human, no matter what the level of power or the immortality. If she continues to think that way, how long will it be before she becomes cold and frightened?_

"I know, Rin. And I understand that. But…I'm just one of many."

"I don't want to be hated like this." Rinoa whispered. "Why do they hate me?"

"I'm not the entire human race, Rinoa. I can't answer your question. I don't know."

She nodded pathetically. 

"Acceptance is the first step toward healing." Quistis quoted. "You can't change what you are. You can only accept it. Good luck."

Rinoa blinked slowly, thanked Quistis, and left, returning to her dorms, staying in the shadows so that the students wouldn't see her. She laid back down in bed, the numbness of the liquid seeping peacefully into her wounds. She forced the same numbness to sink into her mind, so that maybe she could shut away the sorrow for a while.

Rinoa paced the single room Dorm impatiently. Squall had said she would have to remain in her Dorm most of the time now. But he _had_ allowed her to go outside, with one of the others of course. But this, today, was killing her. Raijin and Fujin had imposed it first, Seifer playing his protective act as well as Squall, but then Squall had reinforced it.

__

"We're real sorry, ya know? But Seifer says you can't go. He's only looking out for you, ya know?"

"Agreement"

"Yeah, we agree with him, ya know? All those Garden students there, ya know?"

Rinoa had nodded, thinking that perhaps, If Squall agreed that she could go, and stay close to him....

But he hadn't.

__

"Rinoa, you can't. I wouldn't...be able to be with you the whole time, and neither would the others. Selphie and Irvine are in charge, Quistis still has the infirmary, Zell is in Balamb and Seifer isn't going...I couldn't do it. You can't go.

She scowled and flopped down on the bed, frustrated. She heard the music coming from the Quad. _The Garden festival…_ she thought, a bit longingly, remembering the last one. She strained her ears slightly, the tune making itself clear to her. It was her mother's song.

**__**

Darling so share with me, your love if you have enough.

Your tears if you're holding back, or pain, if thats what it is.....

"Pain…if that's what it is..." she sang hoarsely along with the music. Tears dripped down her face.

"_But Mother!_" she screamed "_My pain is too much for me to bear!!"_

She collapsed sobbing onto the floor.


	2. Patrols

Pacing the Edge  **__**

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII. I only wish the gods were that kind.

**__**

Author's Note: For those of you who liked the way the first chapter ended, then don't read this. I meant it to be a short story, but then I just had to continue. 

**__**

Pacing the Edge 

"I just want to know how she is." Squall repeated impatiently. "It's a simple yes or no question. Is she all right?"

"She's fine." Dr. Kadowaki replied just as impatiently. The doctor had returned from her vacation a few days early, when Quistis had phoned her and told her of what happened. For some reason, the doctor felt it imperative to come back here as soon as possible, leaving her family, which was probably what made her grouchy right now as she straightened up the infirmary. 

"What happened?"

"Squall, I'm the doctor. Trust me with my patients."

"If you're hiding something from me, then it's something bad. I deserve to know what it is. What happened?"

The doctor, a good few inches shorter than he was, lifted her head to meet his eyes. "I won't allow you to pull rank on me. This isn't something you can just demand a report on."

Squall's face didn't change. "I am not demanding a report, and I am not pulling rank. I am asking as someone who cares about her. Now, _please_, tell me what happened."

The doctor sighed and looked over her shoulder at one of the patients' resting rooms. "Rinoa is sleeping peacefully now. She's got a case of insomnia over stress, though that's common in you SeeD types, as I've learned. But the main reason Rinoa is in the infirmary is because she had a mental breakdown and then fainted. Fujin and Raijin were guarding her doors when they heard he screaming angrily but when they opened the door, she had collapsed."

"A mental breakdown? We've had more than a few of those in Garden years. That doesn't seem so bad."

"Wrong. A mental breakdown occurs when the person is suffering from immense grief, stress, anger, despair, or any particular feeling and holds it inside for a period of time until it finally has to pour out. In Rinoa's case, it was probably anger and grief, as Quistis has told me. It doesn't seem so bad with the other students, but keep in mind that Rinoa Heartilly is a Sorceress. A very powerful one at that. She's the only Sorceress of our time and she had Sorceress Adel's and Ultimecia's _and_ Edea's powers within her. A Sorceress keeps her control on her powers with her mind. If she has a mental breakdown, it's dangerous. We were lucky that she fainted after this one or else she could have lost complete control and let loose her fury and despair upon Garden. She could have killed us all."

Squall considered her words. "What exactly are you saying? What can we do?"

The doctor shrugged helplessly. "I've a degree in psychology as well, but I think you should probably consult Dr. Odine on this. I'm not quite sure how Sorceresses react to human techniques. But Dr. Odine will have something to say. He's been studying Sorceresses all his life. In the meantime, when a normal student has a mental breakdown, I tell his or her friends to speak with the student. A mental breakdown symbolizes that the student has been keeping feelings bottled up, or is under extreme stress. I think that maybe if you and your team speak with Rinoa, she'll realize that she is accepted and calm down. That's what I tell a normal student's friends, to help them calm him down."

"I _am_ calm," A voice stated flatly. "And I'm not a normal student."

Both Squall and the doctor looked up to see that Rinoa had already awakened, and stood at the doorway, leaning against her with her arms crossed. Her face was solemn and slightly frustrated. 

"Are you up already? I would guess that you would be asleep for at least a little less than an hour." The doctor said, walking over and feeling Rinoa's forehead.

The younger woman didn't move, though she spoke. "With three Sorceresses' powers, you can imagine that my body heals faster than normal. For drugs as well as physical wounds." She informed them, and her voice was still flat, as if she was angry. "I don't need counseling. And I'm not a normal student. In fact, I'm not a student. Period."

"You handed in your application a week ago and I've already approved it." Squall reminded her. "You're supposed to start classes in five days. I told you yesterday morning, remember?"

"Well then, I'm sorry you'll have to go through the paperwork again, but I'm withdrawing my application. I can't stay at Garden as a student. Goddess knows what they will do to me." She stood with her legs spread slightly and her right arm clutching her left, a stance she only took when she was anxious or nervous or upset. It was the only sign that she was uncomfortable with this discussion.

Dr. Kadowaki gave Squall a glare and he moved to take Rinoa's hand. "Come on." He said almost gently. Gentleness was not his strong point. "You'll talk to the others and we'll take a walk. You'll feel better afterwards." 

"I don't want your sympathy or your pity. I don't want to be one of those people that you point and shake your head at. I already said I don't need counseling." Rinoa replied. "The others will treat me like I'm some sort of psychotic person pacing the edge."

"Then think of it as a get-together. You've wanted the entire team to take a day off and just wander around, right? A vacation?"

Rinoa hesitated and then nodded.

__

Thank Hyne I've gotten through to her. "Then come on. The others will be glad to see you walking around again."

She allowed herself to be led out of the infirmary like a little girl.

The walk was very uncomfortable. 

Sure, Selphie chatted away about the next Garden Festival, Quistis made idle small talk, and even Fujin, who never spoke unless it was absolutely crucial, tried to make conversation. To a passerby's eye, it was nine friends strolling through the Alcauld Plains toward Balamb, talking and laughing. Well, most of them laughing anyway.

But Rinoa knew better. The laughter, natural as it sounded, was forced and the talking was only to fill the awkward silence. She knew what they were all thinking. How strange it must have been, to know what was going on. She could only imagine what Squall had said to them: _Rinoa's on the edge of having a mental breakdown and destroying us all so make it seem like we're all having fun and that nothing's wrong or else the whole world will come to an end._ What were their reactions like?

They all still underestimated her. She admitted that only a year ago, she was a stupid little ditz who couldn't defend herself properly and hadn't the sophistication to pull things off, but that girl had been missing for a long time now. She wasn't like that anymore, not in the least. Maybe she owed it to her Sorceress powers that she wasn't stupid, but she knew for sure that she wasn't a ditz anymore. And she could defend herself now, thanks to the classes her father had put her through, plus her magic. 

In fact, she could probably survive on her own now.

She almost wished she could go back to the way she was before. Though foolish, she had been carefree, her actions inconsequential. She could get angry at the drop of a hat and all that would happen would be that she could stamp her foot and cross her arms. Now…now she herself feared what would happen if she became truly furious.

She must never find out.

Superficial, that's what their relationship was like today. They all sat down in the best restaurant in Balamb with smiles on their faces, but it was all just a farce. That was even worse than if they had ignored her completely.

She held up her hand in the middle of Seifer's retelling of a fight that he and Squall had had when they were children. The older boy stopped immediately and stared at her quizzically. 

"Stop. I appreciate what you're all trying to do for me, I really do. But face it. I'm not normal and that's the truth. I accept it. You should too, if you are truly my friends."

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances before Selphie replied, "Of course we're your friends. What a silly question, Rinoa!"

Oh really? Then why did you hesitate before you said so?

She passed a hand over her eyes wearily. "I'm tired. Please, let's go back. I want to rest."

She was almost disappointed when they complied immediately.

"I need to get away from here." Rinoa told him as soon as she stepped into the office. She didn't admire the view as she had always done but got straight to the point.

Squall looked up from the masses of papers on his desk. "What?"

"I need to get away from here." She repeated. "Out of Garden… What are you reading?"

Squall hastily hid the papers behind his back. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

She fixed him with a stare that was part commanding, part knowing, and part sympathetic. "Squall, don't lie to me. Above all things, I hate it when people lie to me. Let me see what it is." When he still didn't hand over the papers, she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not going to get angry. Stop treating me as if I'm some sort of bomb waiting to explode. I'm not." Her face changed into a pout, her voice pleading. "Now can I see the papers, please?"

As if grateful to have part of the old Rinoa back, and not the Rinoa that seemed to watch everything with a detached sadness, Squall held the papers out and she took them.

"It's not my fault." He said quickly. "And it's not yours either. They'll get used to it."

Rinoa skimmed the papers. "These are all requests—or demands—for me to leave Garden permanently. Some of them are more extreme than that." She put the papers neatly in a pile on his desk and sighed. "I see. What are you going to do about them?"

"Nothing." Squall replied. "I'm going to ignore them. They'll get used to the concept of a Sorceress staying in Garden after a while. Justin and that instructor both dropped in rank because of the show of irresponsibility. I don't think they'll do anything else to you now that I've issued the orders."

Rinoa laughed bitterly. "SeeD…graceful and cooperative as a pack of wolves, dangerous as magic itself, and yet they won't do anything unless they've got orders. You haven't your own choices, do you? The students and faculty have to listen to the commander, and the commander has to do what is best for his people."

Trying to ignore the age that was creeping into the edge of her voice, he said, "Not really. If I was going to do what was best for the students then…" He trailed off and swore, realizing that he had walked right into her trap.

"Then you _would_ send me away." Rinoa finished for him softly. "Because I'm a danger to everyone here, including you. We both understand that." Before he could reply, she placed something on his desk. "I don't want to hurt anyone here, Squall, especially you. I love you too much for that. That's why I'm leaving, part of the reason anyway. I think I'm going to stay with Daddy for a while, then see what I'm going to do."

"Are you coming back?"

"I think so. I'll call from time to time, see what's going on. I'll inform you when I'm going to return. Oh, and tell Seifer to deposit the 500 Gil he still owes me into my account." She leaned across the desk and kissed him lightly then turned and walked out of the room.

Rinoa stood on the platform of the train station at Deling, watching the lights of the night city. 

And just in doing that, she realized how much things had changed. A year ago, she would have been gazing in awe at the golden lights and the gateway at the horizon. Now she was merely staring at the lights as though calculating something. What, she didn't know. She wished she could go back to the way things were before she became a Sorceress.

She knocked on the door of the Caraway mansion, her home. "Daddy?" She called.

The door opened and a sleepy-looking General Caraway stood there. "It's two in the morning. Who—Rinoa! Come in, child, it's cold outside. Why are you here?"

Stepping into the familiar hallway, she dropped her two heavy suitcases. She embraced her father, then unwound a scarf from around her neck and hung her coat up. "Um…I know this sounds weird, Daddy, but could I stay with you for a while?"

"Of course, sweetheart. This is your home; you're welcome here any time. But why?" he narrowed his eyes. "Did you and Squall get into another fight? I'll kill the lit—"

"No, Daddy, we didn't get into a fight." Rinoa assured him quickly and then sighed. "Look, I'm gonna put my bags upstairs in my room, okay? Then I'll make some tea and I'll tell you what's going on."

Picking up her two suitcases, she lugged them up the stairs and into her old bedroom, the one she had since she was a child. There were very little changes since she was five. The four-poster canopy bed still had pale blue satin drapes and was covered with several worn stuffed animals. The carpeting was blue and memories were scattered all over the place, a crystal comb here, a picture frame there. 

She heard the door open behind her and one of the maids stepped in. "Miss Rinoa?"

"Hello, Lisa. I'm sorry to wake you. I'm just going to unpack and then join my father downstairs. You can return to bed if you wish."

"No, no. Let me unpack for you. You hurry and join your father. You don't know how much he misses you when you leave, Lady Rinoa." Lisa took the suitcases from her with a slight grunt. "I've got these."

Thanking her, Rinoa left the room and went downstairs, only to find that her father was already in the study room and the tea was already made ready by another maid. Though retired, her father had been a very important person in the army, and his salary was rather incredible, well enough to sustain him for the rest of his life, as well as his daughter's. As his only child, this was all to be hers when she inherited it.

She took a seat next to her father, picking up her cup of jasmine tea. "I'm sorry to barge in at this hour."

"Rinoa, what happened? Didn't you just leave for Garden a few weeks ago? Why are you back so soon?"

"There was…a problem back at Garden."

Caraway abandoned his tea. "Did you get hurt?"

"Sort of." She took a deep breath. "Daddy, you know I'm a Sorceress, right?"

"Yes. We had this talk a while ago, when you first returned. I thought we already cleared it up that I don't care. You're still my daughter."

"Not all of the others were as forgiving as you are." Rinoa chose her words carefully. "SeeD was created to destroy Sorceresses. It's very awkward when their Commander is dating one. Some of the students there think that I have Squall under a spell. Others think that I'm going to destroy the place. On any case, they don't feel safe with me there, so some of them attacked me. I'm all right now, but I didn't think it would be wise to stay at Garden. I would have been more vulnerable there, as well as volatile. I didn't want to hurt any of them, so I decided to come back here. That is, if I can stay."

"Rinoa," Her father said sternly. "You know that this place is your home. You can stay here as long as you want."

"You're aware of the fact that I may lose control of my powers here?"

"It's a chance I'm willing to take in exchange of having my daughter back."

"Then, I'm glad to be home, Daddy." She hugged him. "And I'm sorry again for coming in so late. We're both tired. I'm going to go to sleep now, okay?"

"Good night, sweetheart. We'll talk more of this in the morning."

"Hi." She said quietly into the phone. "Are you busy?" 

"Hold on. I have to hang up on the other line." Squall replied, and there was a short pause before he returned. "Rinoa."

"You sound surprised to hear from me."

"Sort of. When you left, it seemed rather final. As if you were cutting off all ties with us."

"Are you disappointed that I'm not?"

"No." Squall answered quickly and firmly. "Of course not." He paused. "Are you at your father's house?"

"Yeah. It gets a bit boring here. There's not much work to be done with all the servants, and a girl can only shop for so many hours before she gets tired. How's Garden going?"

"Busy. There's been a swarm of new clients lately. Half the SeeD cadets have graduated, and I've sent most of them on a mission in the Deep Sea Research Center."

"Be careful." Rinoa said quietly. "The danger's still active there."

"What?"

"Nothing. Just tell them to be cautious."

He didn't want to know how she was obtaining this information. Didn't want to know whether it was a guess or whether she was seeing into the future. "All right, I'll tell them that."

She must have heard—or sensed—the uneasiness in his voice. That was rare. Few things could startle Squall Leonhart, but right now, his girlfriend was one of them. "Anyway, how are the others?"

"Doing well. Selphie's upset because you said that you were going to lend her the costume needed for a play that she was directing?"

"I didn't forget. The costume is in the single dormitory that you assigned me, hanging on the right side of the closet. I think it needs to be ironed." Rinoa smiled, knew that he would be able to tell on the other end. Their relationship was that close. Then why was she halfway across the world, instead of with him? "Tell her I'm sorry that she has to find a new Aranna in her play, but I don't think the night would have ended well had I been participating in a SeeD play."

Squall pretended not to hear the bitterness in her voice, the resigned tone. "Quistis is spending her free time learning some medical stuff from Dr. Kadowaki. Fujin and Raijin I sent on a mission to Esthar because they were getting restless. Seifer's been in a bad mood since you've left. Says that he failed his 'duty'. What is that supposed to mean? Does it have something to do with why he acts like he's your older brother?"

"Long story short, he's a knight. What else?"

"He claims that he put the money in your account, though I would check if I were you. He's been getting into a bit of a betting problem lately. Zell and that library girl went on a date to a restaurant in Balamb, but Ma Dincht showed up and accidentally embarrassed them all."

"What happened?"

"Long story short," he mimicked her. "She brought up some humiliating childhood memories. What else was there? Irvine was injured while he was wandering through the Training Center."

"A T-rexaur?" 

"No. He tried to hit on a girl who was very devoted to her boyfriend. She knocked him out with one good punch to the face."

Rinoa laughed genuinely, whole-heartedly, and Squall said, "It's good to hear you laugh, Rin. You never laugh anymore."

"Hmm, sounds like a certain someone I know before I changed him."

"I wonder who that could be?"

She laughed again, and there was a click on the other line. "Hold on, Rin. I've got another call coming in."

A few seconds later he was back. "Yeah, I have to take this call. It's a new client. Will you call later?"

"I'll try. Goodbye."

"'Bye."

Rinoa replaced the phone in its cradle very gently, before turning and walking out onto the streets of Deling. 

__

Why is life put this way? She thought_. Everything is in black or white to most people. Look at that. Either good or bad, light or dark. There are some people who walk through the park as if nothing can ever be wrong, and then some people who go around doing evil._

"Mommy?" A little girl raced up to her and tugged on her hand. Confused, Rinoa stared down at the child. 

"Are you lost?" she asked.

The little girl had night-black hair in a high ponytail and tears down her cheeks as she nodded. "I can't find my mommy."

"Shh, don't cry, sweetheart," After accepting Edea's powers, Rinoa had also been given a small part of Edea herself, so that now she was given to Edea's instincts and love for children. She enfolded the child in her arms and stroked her hair. "What's your name?"

"Tina."

"Would you like me to help you find your mommy, Tina?"

"My mommy looks like you." Tina said. "But she's older."

"All right. Well, we'll find her, okay?" Closing her eyes briefly, Rinoa stretched out with her mind. Searching for a woman old enough to be a mother, with dark hair, anxious over a lost child, and connected to this child. Her powers weren't strong enough to find exactly where the mother was, or even what she really looked like, but she knew that she was being pulled toward the shopping plaza. 

Taking Tina's tiny hand in her own, she wove the both of them through the dense mass of people towards the plaza, where she lifted the little girl onto her shoulder.

"Do you see your mommy?"

"No…Yes! There she is, put me down, put me down!" 

Rinoa lowered the child and ran behind her to a woman wearing a red dress with dark hair spilling over her shoulders. She watched as mother and daughter embraced, and for a brief moment, felt a hurtful pang in her chest as she thought about her own mother, so far from her now. 

"Thank you." The mother told her gratefully, breathless. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. And Tina, next time, don't just go wandering around with people that you don't know. I'm a good guy, but there might be bad guys next time that won't be so nice to you and help you find your mother. Okay? Keep a sharp mind, child." She smiled at the daughter, nodded at the mother, and vanished into the crowd. 

It felt good to help out. She had never been able to help anyone like this before, and it filled her with a sense of warmth. Or maybe it was just Edea's powers subsiding.

She stayed out on the city for a while, needing the fresh air. 

An hour later, she saw a boy, perhaps a year or two younger than herself, sitting on a trash can in the alleyway. But he wasn't in trouble. Rather, he was making trouble.

Horrified, she watched as he waited patiently until a man wearing a leather jacket came along, and with swift fingers, relieved him of his wallet, stuffing it into the pocket of his too-large pants before sidling down the sidewalk. The streets were deserted by now; it was dinnertime and everyone had gone home. She stood directly in the boy's path until he had to stop and look at her.

"I saw what you did." She told him. "Give that back to him."

His upper lip lifted in contempt. "Go mind your own business, bitch. Get out of my way before I hurt you."

"Give that back now, or I call the police." Rinoa told him calmly. When had she become so involved in justice? Maybe when she joined the Timber Owls. "Do you really want a record because you were too cheap to pay for a couple of Milky Ways? I myself like Milky Ways." She said as if this was a normal conversation. "But I wouldn't steal for them. I'm warning you one last time, kid, put those back or pay for them, or I call the police." 

"Fuck off, tramp." He pushed her aside.

In the instant that she started moving to the side by the force of his push, she was already moving, shifting her body so that she leaned her weight on her right foot and then pushed off, ending up behind him, where she downed him with a quick kick to the knees and a jab to the collarbone. She hated being called a tramp even worse than being shoved.

Kneeling beside him, Rinoa asked again, sweetly, "Now will you return it?"

But instead of getting up and doing as she said, as would be logical, he took another swipe at her, this time with a pocketknife that he must have stashed somewhere on him.

She yelped as she stumbled back from it. "Can't say I didn't give you a fair warning."

He ignored her, intent on eliminating a witness and a nuisance to him. Obviously he didn't like it that an innocent-looking girl had kicked his ass. He moved again, with a wildness that proved him as a street fighter. 

She caught him in the jaw with the palm of her hand and when he recovered and continued, she lost her patience.

"Ultima!" 

When the green light faded away, the body was gone. Rinoa stumbled backwards in shock and fear. _Oh Goddess, did I do that?_

And yet underneath her fear, there was a voice that cried justice. _What you did was right. He was only a thief after all, and he would have killed you._

The warmth was gone from her now, replaced by a white-hot flame that wasn't unpleasant. Even as she ran from the terrible scene, she felt satisfaction, and her lips curved into a smile. 

"Daddy?" Rinoa called as she walked into her father's study. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course." General Caraway closed a folder on his desk and folded his hands, giving his daughter his complete attention. "What is it?"

"Why do SeeDs only do what they are ordered to? Isn't that kind of life rather meaningless?"

"Ah. Still thinking about Squall?"

"Yes."

"Well…SeeDs are the type of person that follow orders. Everyone's different. Some people hate giving orders and are more of the follower type. I guess that's it. But if they really don't like it, they can always leave. You don't have to be worried for them. Squall's a smart boy. He knows what to do."

"Okay." Rinoa swung her legs and stared at the folder, marked UNSOLVED. "What is that?"

"This? Oh. It's a couple of cases that the government sent me because no one else could figure it out. Your old man used to be quite impressive in his time."

"I'm sure you still are, Daddy. Can I help? What is it?"

"There's been a couple of disappearances lately. A boy named Terence Elis and another boy name Jake Dremc. Do you know anything about these?"

Rinoa fought to keep her face expressionless. She herself had eliminated those two. Terence was the one that had tried to kill her because she would have reported him, and Jake was a boy who wouldn't take no for an answer. She had been forced to kill him to save her own innocence and it gave her a sweet thrill to know that for once, she was in charge and that she had the power to root out right and wrong.

"No. What happened to them?"

"We don't know. That's why they're missing." Caraway sighed. "Their bodies haven't been found either."

Of course not. Ultima is a very final spell for mortals that aren't junctioned. Besides, they deserved it. Neither of them were anything good and they won't be missed.

"Sorry I couldn't help you, Daddy." Rinoa said, and left the room.

"Squall?"

"Rinoa. Is something wrong?"

"Sort of." She reached down to stroke Angelo's furry head. Her dog had joined her a day after she arrived here. "What would you do if you knew someone had done something wrong but they did it for a good reason?"

There was a pause on the other line, and she could imagine Squall frowning. "What happened? Who are you talking about?"

"Answer my question first."

"Well, I guess it would depend on the reason."

"What if it was self-defense? Or if the person deserved it?"

"Then I guess it would be justified in a way. But not completely. Who are you talking about, Rinoa? What's going on?" 

"Nothing." She assured him easily. "Just a few things I've been thinking about." She paused. "Can I return to Garden?"

That question took him by surprise. "Of course. You are always welcome here."

"By you. Not Garden."

"I _am_ Garden."

Rinoa sighed. "Meet me at the Balamb train station tomorrow at three? I'll see you then." She hung up without waiting for his response, and slipped out of the house.

She had taken to walking the streets at night. She knew it was dangerous, or at least for a human. But it was merely an exercise for her, a patrol, more like. And if—when—someone leapt out of the shadows to mug her—or worse—should would kill him.

Simple as that.

An Ultima spell or Sorceress-enhanced strength. To her it was ridding the world of scum, like taking out the garbage. It was the most natural thing in the world, though a voice in her always wailed to stop.

And yet there was a part that had a thrill of satisfaction every time she killed. Maybe it was Ultimecia's soul; she recognized the future Sorceress's mind signature. She dismissed it entirely. 

"I said, come here, bitch." He said for the third time, stepping forward again.

She stood her ground. "Why? You're going to rape me then kill me." It wasn't a question. "You've done this before, twice." Neither was that.

"Yeah, and? Who are you? A cop?"

Rinoa considered his question. "You could say I'm justice, or vengeance."

"Huh?"

"Flare!"

Lava-colored energy spilled from her fingers, too swift for the boy to even scream. 

She waited until the smell of sulfur and salt faded before she walked home, smiling. 

"Hey, boy," She scratched behind Angelo's ears as he nudged her leg, looking for pets. 

"Rinoa?" Her father called. "Come into the study."

Frowning, she did so. Her father stood looking out the window. "You're still up, Daddy?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. It's almost two in the morning, sweetheart. What were you doing out? The servants say this isn't the first time."

__

Damn that Lisa! She told Dad! "I couldn't sleep." Rinoa answered easily, truthfully. She couldn't sleep, knowing that those bastards were lurking around corners, ready to attack the first person they saw. The very thought filled her with loathing. "So I decided to take a walk."

"Deling City isn't safe anymore. Walk through our own gardens. I don't want my little girl getting herself killed."

"Daddy, you forget. I'm a Sorceress."

Caraway sighed. "I know that, sweetheart. But still, with all the disappearances lately…"

"It's not like they would be missed." She muttered.

"What?"

"Well, I mean, you told me, right? None of them would make it into Boy Scouts." She shrugged. "I've no pity for them."

Her father looked at her long and hard before turning away. "You're right, I suppose. Still, I've been assigned these cases, so I have to find out what's going on."

Rinoa shrugged again. 

"I would tell you not to go out walking again, but I know how stubborn you can get. You _are_ my daughter, after all. But at least take some guards with you, or walk through our own gardens. I am sure you are powerful, but I am your father, and everyone knows how protective parents get of their children."

"I'll try that, Daddy. Anyway, the walking cleared my head. I think I'll go to sleep now."

"Are you going to go for a walk tomorrow as well?"

"No. I'm returning to Garden tomorrow."

"I thought you said you didn't want to go there."

"I did say that. But…I guess I'm willing to give it another try. Or maybe I just miss the others." She hugged her father. "Good night, Daddy."

She ran upstairs to find Lisa rekindling the fire. Without a word she shoved the maid against a wall and snarled, "Why did you tell my father what I was doing?" She pushed Lisa further, her hand around her throat. "It's none of your business nor his!" 

The smaller woman squeaked, her eyes huge. "I…I-I was only…I thought I was helping you! It's not safe out there!"

Rinoa released her grip, stepping back in horror. She stared at her own hand, the one that was choking the servant girl, as if it was foreign to her, a betraying limb. She looked back at Lisa. "Oh Hyne, I'm sorry, Lisa. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry. I…did I hurt you? I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry. I really am." She stepped further backwards until she nearly tripped over a chair. "Are you all right?"

Lisa rubbed at her throat with the back of one small hand, nodding feverishly. "I'm…fine. I'm sorry, Lady Rinoa. I didn't know you would be so upset. I thought I was protecting you."

"You thought so. But I don't need protection. I'm quite a capable fighter, thank you. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry. But please don't tell my father about any further activities. I can take care of myself." Rinoa waved a hand at Lisa. "Can you leave me alone? I don't feel so good."

The maid nodded, scooting toward the door. She paused, one hand on the doorway. "Don't worry, Lady Rinoa. I won't tell your father about this either."

Rinoa felt instant relief wash over her. "Thank you, Lisa. Again, I'm sorry."

I have to get out of here…

The train was delayed an hour because of an accident on the tracks, and Rinoa was worried that Squall would not have waited that long.

"You think he'll be there, Angelo?" She asked. The dog barked an affirmative.

With her loyal friend at her side and a suitcase in each hand, she waited as the train pulled into the station, screeching to a halt.

She scanned the station immediately as soon as she stepped off, switching her suitcases to one hand and gripping Angelo's collar with the other as she looked around. 

She smiled, walking over and sitting on the bench. Settling the luggage next to Angelo, she leaned over the young man sitting next to her, and yelled, "Hey!"

Squall came awake immediately, reflexes taking over, and clenching one hand into a fist. She squeaked, throwing her hands up to protect herself, ready to catch his fist. But the need didn't arise, as he pulled his fist back in time. 

"God, Rinoa, what was the point of that?"

"It was funny." She told him. "Are you glad to see me?"

"…Yeah. I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up."

"The train was delayed because of some accident. You waited all this time?"

"Of course." He graced her with a rare smile. "You thought I would just leave you here?"

"Maybe. How are the others doing?"

"Well enough I suppose. Aside from Seifer, who's being disciplined for staring a fight, and Irvine, who was wounded during a battle."

Rinoa looked around idly as he spoke, their roles reversed for once. She had been in Balamb before, many times, but only now did she realize the little flaws. The graffiti on the hotel's front walls, faded but still visible, and the smashed glass windows of a favorite boutique. She frowned, staring at her hands.

Looks like I'll have to do a patrol here, as well.

"Rinoa!" A pixie seemed to flutter down the corridors at a great speed to latch around her waist. A pixie with emerald green eyes and flipped hair. "You came back!"

Rinoa detached herself from Selphie's grip, watching as the others also came up and greeted her. "Yeah. I just needed a while alone, that's all. I didn't think it was safe here. So I went to stay with my father for a few days. How was the play?"

Selphie shrugged. "It went well, I guess. Amie—you know, that girl at the library—she played the part of Aranna. She's actually a really good actress. You wouldn't be able to tell, she's usually really shy when she works at the library."

Quistis appeared from the elevator, looking up from the piece of paper she held in her hands when she sensed someone ahead of her. "Oh. Hello, Rinoa. You're back for good this time?" Before the other girl could reply, the blonde woman continued, "I should hope so. I know you're upset with what happened with that boy Justin, but we're trying to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Besides, Squall's positively horrendous when you're not around." She smiled. "By the way, Squall, here's the list you requested, of the students that should be suspended."

Rinoa glanced at the list as it passed by her. It filled almost the entire page.

Why are there so many students in need of suspension? Isn't Garden normally very cooperative and disciplined?

Squall noticed her troubled frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She replied easily. "I'm just a bit tired from the trip, that's all. What room am I assigned this time?"

"Well, we've gotten a group of new students, so even some of the SeeDs had to share rooms. I've arranged it so that you're sharing a room with Fujin. I didn't think it would be wise if you were roomed with any of the other SeeD girls."

Rinoa nodded, picking up her suitcases. _Yeah, I know._ "Okay. I'm tired. I'm going to my room now, all right? I'll see you guys later. Angelo, come on." She walked off.

"Hey, guys? Does Rinoa seem different to you?" Irvine asked. 

"What do you mean? She's just tired, that's all. Anybody who's been riding the train for a straight six hours would be tired."

Irvine shook his head, touching the tips of his fingers to his black cowboy hat. "Uh-uh. Trust me, something's wrong with the gal. I can tell when things are wrong with women."

"Because you keep such an eye out for them, isn't that right?" Selphie demanded a bit waspishly. "You're always looking at other girls."

"Aw, you know I've only got eyes for you, Sefie." 

"Yeah right." She replied sarcastically, but she was smiling.

And nobody paid heed to the warning.


	3. Realization

Disclaimer: I don't own FF8 **__**

Disclaimer: I don't own FF8. The gods are not that kind.

**__**

Pacing the Edge

  
"Rinoa?"

Her hand on the door panel, Rinoa froze at the sound of her roommate's voice; she had through the other girl asleep. She turned to look at Fujin, a crumpled mass underneath the standard blue covers of Garden. 

"I'm just going out for a walk."

"At this time of night, with your weapon?"

"It's getting dangerous. I _am_ a Sorceress in Garden, after all. No, I meant I'm going outside, to Balamb probably."

"You're going there by yourself? That's too dangerous." The silver head lifted itself from the pillow with a wearied sigh. "I'll go with you."

"No, it's okay." Rinoa hurried to assure her. She would never be able to have a decent patrol with someone around. "I don't need a guard. Besides, you're tired. I'll be fine."

"Seifer and Leonhart will kill me if anything happens to you."

"Nothing's going to happen to me. I've got my magic to protect me anyway. I'll be back before any of them wake up. Go back to sleep."

I always thought this was such a quiet peaceful town. Rinoa thought as she walked the streets of Balamb. Does everything change when you look at it a second time?

She had just destroyed a mugger, yet again, the third one tonight. She didn't even bother to give them a chance to repent anymore. After all, they gave up that right when they first stole. She simply emerged from the shadows so that they could see her face, the last thing they saw before the blinding green light of Ultima. 

It was easy to lure out the criminals. After all, she seemed like a perfectly ordinary, innocent beautiful girl stupid enough to walk the streets at night by herself. What could be better bait? And when the fish came to bite, they were caught and burned.

It was easy now, a simple patrol. She enjoyed walking out at night and taking care of things like this. She slept in during the mornings, and went to sleep earlier during the nights so that she still got a sufficient amount of sleep. The patrols gave her a sense of strange euphoria and justice. 

After all, if the human cops couldn't do it, why not someone who had the power to make changes?

She rounded a corner to meet someone bent over a lock to a closed convenience store. Though she liked the feeling of doing something right, there was something inside her heart that wrenched every time she saw a crime being committed. And this boy couldn't have been more than fifteen at the most.

"Why do you have to do that?" She asked, coming up behind him silently, so that he gasped and turned around. Rinoa realized that it wasn't a he at all, but a tall girl with her short hair under a cap. "Are you so short on money that you have to steal? Do you need money that badly?" She scanned her mind. "Is that CD player really worth this?"

"Mind your own business, bitch." The girl muttered, bending down to pick up her tools, not even wondering how Rinoa could have figured out about the CD player. "Go home before you get hurt. Pretend you never saw this."

"I can't do that. I did see this. And you're going to have to turn yourself in if you don't want to die." Rinoa wondered why she was giving this girl a chance. Was it because she was female or because she was so young?

This got the girl's attention. She straightened, turned to face Rinoa with a look of contempt. "At your hand? I don't think so. You look too soft to even report me to the police."

"Well, you're right about one thing. I won't report you to the police. They are idiots, clueless as to how to do the real job. But appearances can be deceiving. You're wrong on everything else. You are going to die. Holy!"

Bright white light filled the night sky. This would have to be quick. Balamb was a rather small sea city, and the townspeople would be coming out to see what had caused the light. 

The girl gave a little shriek, throwing up her hands in front of her face to protect herself.

No, not to protect herself. She was casting a spell. "Reflect!" 

The Reflect spell caused the Holy spell to rebound off the spring green orb and surround Rinoa. She didn't mind. Holy spells had no effect on Sorceresses. She waited until it had faded away before speaking. 

"You have a GF." Only now did she notice the glowing orb tucked in one of the pouches at the girl's waist. It emitted a soft darkness, and it wasn't very strong. Rinoa doubted if it could help the thief withstand another spell. The Reflect spell was rather weak. "Interesting."

"So do you." The girl replied, failing to observe that Rinoa, in fact, did not have any GFs junctioned to her. Sorceresses didn't need a GF to cast magic, as she had proven time and time again. 

"How did you get a GF?"

"Found it in a cave northeast of here." The girl was obviously still wary, circling Rinoa, who continually turned to face her. 

If this girl has a GF, and obvious magic skills, and she's of age, she could join Garden. But if she goes into Garden, Squall's bound to find out by some way or another about my patrols. I can't let that happen. He'll get too protective, or angry. Besides, why would I want this girl to be in SeeD? The only choice is to eliminate her.

"It's been nice speaking with you." Rinoa said, as if this was any other normal conversation. "But you have to be punished for what you did. I'm saving you, you know."

"What are you talking about?"

"Triple! Ultima!"

Even the GF couldn't keep the girl safe from the most powerful Forbidden spell on the planet. Rinoa kept the green light concentrated so that it didn't light up the night sky. She would have to make a quick getaway to keep from being seen.

As the girl's body disappeared, the glowing orb of the GF clattered to the ground. Rinoa picked it up, hid it in her own jacket, and ran. 

When she was sure that she was alone and safe, she took out the GF and summoned it.

It ended up being Anha, a common spirit of darkness, dressed in dark flowing robes and a black hood over her concealed face. Her mental voice was like a mysterious wind blowing through the night. I see no enemies. What is it you called me for, human master?

"You're free now." Rinoa told it. She didn't like the ideas of junctioning GFs. It was like using somebody as a power slave. Though most, like her friends, were kind to their GFs, others abused the power. "I've no use for a GF and your master is dead. You are free."

Anha didn't bother to thank her, just drifted off into the night. 

Rinoa did the same, back towards Garden.

"Rinoa, do you have a moment?"

The female voice that spoke to her wasn't Quistis or Selphie but the unfamiliar Xu, who had almost never spoken to her before.

"Sure, Xu, is something wrong?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Can we talk outside? It's kind of important." Xu started walking.

"Is there something wrong with Squall?" Rinoa asked, following her outside of Garden and around, toward the mountains.

"Yes, there is. You're the problem." Xu stopped walking, turned around to face her. "Squall is our commander. And he's making a stupid decision by letting you stay at Garden. What are you doing to his mind?"

"Excuse me?" Rinoa couldn't believe what she was hearing. _What the hell are they talking about?_

Xu was soon joined by five other SeeDs, all of them moving out of the trees silently. She hadn't been able to sense them; but then again, SeeDs were trained to be stealthy when needed. The looks on their faces reminded her of Lucas Tenn, one of the killers that she had disposed of. One of them had a beautiful piece of jewelry on her forearm. An Odine bangle? What was she doing with one?

"Why are you wearing an Odine product? Are you a Sorceress?"

The girl glared at her, then snorted. "Hell no. I'd die before I became one of those freaks." 

"What's wrong with you people?" Rinoa demanded, fists clenching at her sides. 

"You are what's wrong." The quiet firmness in Xu's voice added to the determination and strange sheen in her eyes told Rinoa that the SeeD woman actually believed in what she was saying. "Your kind isn't right. It wasn't meant to exist. Your kind has so many flaws, so many wrongs…it's doing everyone a favor by eliminating you."

"Your kind isn't perfect either!" Rinoa yelled. "You think you have no flaws?"

Her words caused some of them to step back, but Xu shook her head. "Humans aren't wrong. Your…kind is the problem. You are unnatural, your powers too strange and unholy. Why do you think that humans are more than witches and demons?"

"First of all, I am not a witch or a demon. I am a _Sorceress_. There is a difference. And humans are more in number than Sorceresses because of what is happening _right now_. Discrimination like you are showing is what has caused Sorceresses to become extinct. Humans hunted down my kind the way animals do. I do not flaunt my powers or use them unjustly against humans. I have done nothing wrong."

Her logic was cool and devastatingly clear, not like Rinoa at all, or at least not the Rinoa of a year ago. It made her attackers change faces, from stoic to angry, drawing weapons. 

"I don't want to hurt you." She warned them. _I really don't. But what other choice do I have?_

Another presence flickered in her mind, and she grasped at it, seeing the shape at the corner of her eye. Probing the mind quickly, she was relieved to find that it was Amie, the library girl who often came out on her breaks to read under a tree behind Garden, near to where Rinoa was now.

__

Amie! She yelled, trying to focus her mind. She had practiced this for a while, and had a long way to go to perfecting it, but her desperation made her stronger. _Amie, it's Rinoa! I'm in trouble! Turn to your right, Amie, and keep walking! Can you see me? I'm in trouble, Amie, go get Squall!_

The shape paused, shaking her head as if to clear the voice, unbelieving. Rinoa sent the message again, more desperate. This time the shape looked her way, stared for a while.

By now she was already trying to avoid the weapons, jumping away from the whips and dodging the swords. _Amie, NOW!_

Xu's twin daggers drew blood along Rinoa's arms and before she could stop herself, she had Xu pinned against a tree by her throat. 

"I warned you!" She yelled, hating herself for not being able to stop the anger that fueled this sudden rage. "I told you not to, but you wouldn't back off!" 

Grappling with her own mind and the almost-physical entity of anger that was trying to control it, Rinoa broke free and managed to drop her arm, releasing Xu. Of course, this led to the other SeeDs resuming their attack. She ran.

"Commander Squall!" Amie screamed as she burst into the office.

He was in there with the rest of the heroes that had saved the planet from Ultimecia's madness, minus Rinoa of course, who was outside and in trouble.

"Amie? We're in the middle of a meeting, if you don't mind." Squall said as she stood in the middle of the office, trying to catch her breath. Amie could see Zell, her sort-of boyfriend, off to the side, no doubt wondering why she was acting so strangely.

"Commander Squall, there's something wrong. It's gonna sound crazy, but I was on my way to that big tree behind Garden because I like to read there because it's so quiet. But then there was this voice in my head and it sounded just like Rinoa and she said that she was in trouble. She told me to look and I looked and I saw her and some other people and she looked like she was going to be attacked." Amie was practically in tears. 

"Where was this?"

"Outside, behind Garden, toward the mountains."

Squall was already out the door.

Rinoa cursed when she rammed her shoulder into the trunk of another tree, dodging around it. The footsteps behind her proved that they were still on her trail. Where was Squall? Had Amie delivered her message or just passed it off as a hallucination caused by stress?

She shrieked when Xu suddenly appeared in front of her, tossing her daggers. Rinoa ducked, the blades burying themselves in the trunk of the tree behind her. She dodged around Xu as well. Her skills _had_ improved through her father's training but she couldn't stand up to six SeeDs chasing her through a forest that they were familiar with and she wasn't! 

She ran again, her legs on fire from fatigue. _Just keep running, keep running, it'll be safe if you keep running. Don't let them catch you._

The voice came from her own mind and yet from far away as well. 

It triggered a memory that she had not experienced. This had happened before, running through the forest with people running after her, intent on killing her. Somewhere in time close to her this had happened. This wasn't her memory but it was in her mind anyway, telling her to keep running.

She looked over her shoulder again, and crashed into someone. Arms enveloped her and she screamed, struggling.

"Rinoa, calm down! _Calm down!_ It's me! Calm down, Rinoa!"

She stopped her struggles slowly, still hysterical and barely able to see through her tears. "Squall?"

"Yeah, it's me. What happened?" 

"They're after me." She told him tearfully, hugging him tight around the waist. "They were chasing me through the forest and this memory happened and I saw something."

"Calm down. Stop crying. Who was chasing you? Galbadians? Monsters?"

She shook her head. "SeeDs."

"SeeDs." Squall echoed. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." Rinoa seemed to have regained her composure. She wiped her tears on the back of her hand and pulled away. "It was Xu and five others. One of them was that girl who challenges everyone to Triple Triad in the cafeteria." Her voice became very quiet, dropping to a whisper. "And they're coming again. I can feel them."

Sure enough, no sooner had she spoken those words than twigs snapped and branches parted and the six SeeDs leapt through, weapons brandished. They paused when they saw Squall, and Xu gasped.

"Commander!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He demanded.

"We're…"

More forest sounds and then Quistis, Zell, and Amie burst through the forest and into the clearing as well, slightly out of breath but weapons armed and ready to fight. They all frowned when they saw Xu.

"What's going on?" Amie asked.

The clearing erupted into sound at the question, with Xu saying, "We're killing the witch and releasing you from her spell, Commander," and Squall yelling orders and the SeeDs defending their actions and Zell yelling at them for attacking Rinoa, and Quistis and Amie trying to keep Rinoa from having a breakdown.

A single gun shot quieted things. 

Irvine stood at the edge of the clearing with Selphie beside him and a still-smoking shotgun aimed at the sky.

"Shut the hell up, all of you. Bring this back into Garden. You're only attracting monsters and I'm sure that no one wants death by T-rexaur. Xu and the rest of the SeeDs who attacked Rinoa, you're still under Squall's command, so you will listen to him and go back to Garden and discuss this. Squall, you're not helping anyone by staying here. We need to get back to Garden, not to mention help Rinoa. She looks like she's about to faint."

Squall stared at him for a while before nodding. "He's right. Everyone, back to Garden. That includes you, Xu, and the rest of you idiots. We're only attracting T-rexaurs."

Rinoa didn't mention that she probably wouldn't mind that.

Rinoa stayed in the infirmary, sitting stoically as Dr. Kadowaki cleaned her wounds and bandaged them, her face looking as if it was set in stone, not even wincing when alcohol was poured over an open wound. 

"Are you all right?" The doctor asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. You said the scars would go away in a few weeks."

"I meant emotionally, psychologically."

Rinoa finally focused on the graying doctor. "If you're still going on about that whole mental breakdown thing, calm down. I won't go crazy and attack Garden, if that's what you're worried about. I'll deal with my own self."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about. Your friends are worried about you too, Miss Heartilly. You deal with your own self and you suffer by yourself, but that can't be healthy for you. You—"

"Can we please just ignore the entire thing?" Rinoa snapped. "I don't want to be rude, but I don't need anyone fussing over me, especially a psychologist."

The doctor seemed surprised for a moment but then quieted, finishing bandaging the rest of the wounds. "There. I suggest that you stay in your room for a while and rest."

Rinoa thanked her, standing up and heading for the door, nearly running into Squall again when the door slid open and he came through.

"Hi." He said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Tired. Hurt. Angry. The usual. What happened? Where are the others?"

"Quistis and the others are telling Seifer and his friends what happened—"

"Oh great." Rinoa made a face. "Just what I need."

He ignored her. "And the students who attacked you are being demoted in rank and sent to the disciplinary room. The ones who drew your blood are being transferred to the new Galbadia Garden. As for Xu, I just demoted her rank. I couldn't really transfer her or punish her severely because she did help during the war. But she won't be bothering you again."

"She won't." Rinoa agreed. "But others will. As long as I'm a Sorceress, Squall, and I am in Garden, there are going to be SeeDs attacking me, despite what you order them to do. Did you know that Xu thought I had you under a spell?"

"Are you going to leave again?" Squall asked quietly.

"Are you going to lock me in my dorm room if I don't?" She countered.

He paused. "No. I don't think that would help. You passed out last time I did that, and Hyne knows what would happen this time."

Rinoa nodded. "I'm not leaving. I want to stay here with you. But if any of your SeeDs attack me again, I can't guarantee that I won't hurt them back."

"I understand that. Bottom line: if they follow my orders, they won't get hurt. Still, I would rather if someone was with you at all times."

"I'm not staying here to be babied, Squall. I can take care of myself. But if I think that I should, I'll bring someone with me, okay?"

"Good enough. Be careful, Rinoa. I don't want to lose you."

"Hyne, ancestor of the Sorceresses. Holy Mother of the power of our blood…" The prayer came to her lips easily like water overflowing. "Goddess that granted us life…" Rinoa sighed. "Hyne granted us all life. Sorceresses are her daughters. The power was granted to her children and passed on as part of her entity. Sorceresses are children of Hyne just like everyone else. Doesn't that make us the same as everywhere else? Why are some filled with so much hatred? "But…we're not the same anymore. Humankind…and the Sorceress-kin. We are different now. I can't forget that or I'll end up dead like my Sorceress-kin ancestors, right, Hyne?" Rinoa sighed and climbed into her bed, pulling the covers up. She could ignore her patrols for tonight.  "Your kind isn't perfect either!"  I wonder if I should do patrols around Garden? Hyne knows that they need it. No…that wouldn't be wise. Too many missing people in a small space like this? Besides, I would have to face Squall about it and I definitely don't want to kill him. But still…

Crying silently into her pillow, she began to hum Eyes on Me, her voice broken and hoarse. Her mother's song had always brought her warm comfort but tonight it seemed hollow and empty, full of broken promises and unrequited love.

Fujin listened, slightly unnerved, to her broken roommate's prayer and questions to a Goddess that probably didn't even exist. And now Rinoa was alternately sniffling and humming that romance song. Even her voice seemed alone and broken and wounded.

Poor girl…

"Squall, aren't you worried about Rinoa?" Irvine asked.

Squall frowned, finished the rest of his coffee. He would need it; he still had a load of paperwork to do. "Of course I am. But what can I do?"

"Put her under protection." Seifer suggested immediately. "Have guards that you can trust around her."

"That won't work. Garden is a mercenary force. We need our best out on the missions. Besides, Rinoa specifically requested that we don't do that. The most I could do is to let her share a dorm with Fujin."

"And we all know how dangerous Fujin can be when she's angry, ya know?" Raijin said, absently rubbing his shins, remembering the years of pain that had exploded in them every time the dreaded word RAGE was heard. 

"Don't women get really cranky when they have to share small territory?"

"It's a large dorm." Squall assured them. "But back to the original question, what else can I do?"

"You could send her to stay with her father until it's safe, or with her friends, the Timber Owls." Zell suggested.

"That won't work either." Irvine said. "She and Squall have to stay together, or the entire relationship falls apart."

"Besides, it might never be safe for her here." Seifer said darkly.

__

"There's no use feeling sorry for yourself." There was a voice in the room.

Rinoa woke slowly as she felt the mind poke at hers, the voice talking again, _"There's not much you can do about this, but moping isn't going to help anything._"

She shook her head, and looked around the room. The only other living beings in the room was Fujin, but she was asleep, and Angelo. This voice was telepathic, in her head only, and Fujin had no magical aura, and neither did Angelo, last time she checked.

__

Who are you? She asked tentatively, not quite sure where to direct her mind. But it seemed the voice could hear her anyway.

"Finally, the lady wakes up. Hello." Hi. Who is this? Why are you talking to me? "You could say that I'm someone who knows you and cares about what happens to you. But you don't know me. Not yet. I'm that one that's been talking to you." __

No one has been talking to me like this. 

"Wrong, Lady Rinoa. A while back, when you were first attacked, you heard voices and passed them off as stress. It wasn't stress. It was me. I was trying to talk to you, and I sent you those feelings."

Of fear and hurt? That was you?

"You're a real genius, you know that?" There was something sardonic about the voice now. It was growing impatient. 

Rinoa frowned. Obviously you're getting angry with me. What's the point of this talk? What can I do to help you? __

"Nothing. There's nothing anyone can do for the Sorceresses."

You're a Sorceress?!

"Again, she stuns us with her brilliant intellect."

Hey, would you calm down? I'm not insulting you, am I? Rinoa shot back defensively, forming her mind into a heated dagger and jabbed it out toward the unknown mind.

"Ouch. All right, I apologize. I'm only here to help you. You can't just stay in your room and mope and sulk and bitch about how life is unfair." __

I'm not like that. 

"Could have fooled me. I saw what those SeeDs did to you. I'm not here to influence you, although I have the power to. I'm here as your friend, because no one was my friend when I needed one. Your self-pity won't help anyone. Get back on your feet and face it."

Who the hell are you?

"Someone that you don't know yet. Most likely you won't ever know me. See you around, maybe."

Wait! Rinoa yelled, but it was already too late. The presence had withdrawn itself from her mind and as she stretched out there was only silence. But the words stayed with her, and to the night, she nodded determinedly, as if deciding.

The next night, her self-pity and crying done, Rinoa resumed her patrols. 

Fujin had insisted that she should go along, or that Rinoa not go at all, but with persuasive words, promises not to get hurt, and a _little _bit of a mind-suggestion, Rinoa had slipped out of the dorm and out of Garden.

That night, five other 'villains' disappeared from Balamb.

"I'm telling you, there's something wrong with her." Fujin stamped her foot in frustration. "She keeps going out at night with her weapon but I don't think it's in Garden. It's dangerous for her and Hyne knows what's going on?"

Seifer dismissed her words. "She seems fine. It's natural that she should be a bit different after realizing her position, after that incident with Justin and that bitch Xu. Who cares if she's been sneaking off at night? Rinoa is more than capable of protecting herself now."

"Besides, if Leonhart isn't enough for her, why is it our business, ya know?"

"INFURIATING." Fujin yelled, reverting to her old habit, and then kicked both of them. "TROUBLED." She cleared her throat. "There _is_ something wrong with her and not just the two attacks."

Now Seifer seemed slightly concerned. "Are you sure you're not just imagining things, Fuu?"

"Am I the imagining type?" She snapped. "You don't want to think that there's something wrong with Rinoa because then you'll feel like you failed her. But if you don't do something now—while you can—then you _will_ fail, because I know that something's going to happen!" 

Seifer exchanged a worried look with Raijin; both remained quiet. Not many people knew that Fujin was so intuitive, but because of her constant silence, she had a skill at observing things that other people didn't, and it was always wise to take her words into careful consideration. 

Taking the silence as another denial, Fujin left. 

This time when the Sorceress left in the middle of the night, Fujin was ready. As soon as the door closed, she retrieved her shuriken from its case on the drawer and followed the footsteps out the dorm rooms into the main halls of Garden.

She was surprised that Rinoa didn't sense her presence. After all, wasn't she supposed to be the most powerful witch or something? But the dark-haired girl didn't even give a backward glance the entire way to Balamb. 

She must really be intent on whatever the hell it is that she does.

Fujin hurried to catch up with Rinoa. For someone who used to be so physically frail in battles, the girl was quick. She rounded a corner and was nearly blinded by a blast of green light. 

She muffled a curse, recoiled at the magical aura. _What the hell?_

By the time her eyes recovered, Rinoa was moving again.

Gripping her shuriken tightly in her hand, she followed. Something was terribly wrong. No normal human could cast such a powerful Ultima spell, aside from the few SeeDs that fought Ultimecia. But that was because of their perilous journey and years of experience. A regular human, even one with a powerful GF could not be able to cast an Ultima spell so adeptly as the one that she had just sensed.

But then Rinoa wasn't a regular human, and she was one of the six that had fought Ultimecia. But why would Rinoa be casting an Ultima spell in the middle of the night in a seaside town like this?

She knelt by the corner of a building, carefully looked around. 

Rinoa was standing there, back facing her, arms hanging loosely by her side. Beyond her was a boy, a young man, actually, maybe a year or two older than they were. He had a knife in one hand and malice in his eyes. His intention was unmistakable. 

Fujin began to rise to her feet, to scream a warning to Rinoa, or to throw her weapon at the man.

But instead she stayed frozen as Rinoa took a step forward and held out her hand as if to shake hands with that man. He smiled and began walking toward her.

"Ultima!" 

Quickly Fujin cast a Shell spell to keep her safe from the aftereffects of the Forbidden spell. Green light washed through the alleyway, and the figures were visible this time. The man was screaming inaudibly, his flesh peeling off of his body, leaving red tissues exposed on his limbs and blood spurting from the pores of his face. A rather gruesome sight.

But Rinoa just stood there, arms lax, entire body calm and collected, as if she wasn't surprised or disgusted at all. Completely emotionless. She waved her hand once, calling back the rest of the Ultima spell into her palm. Only a Sorceress could do that, call back a spell. 

It left the man a crumbled heap on the alley ground, writhing in pain. "What the hell are you?" He managed to gasp out, despite his obvious pain and imminent death. 

Rinoa seemed to consider his question. "I'm not sure. Any last requests?" 

"Fuck you!"

She shrugged. "I'd rather not. Oh well. Can't say I didn't try to be nice." She uncurled her fingers from her palm, releasing the rest of the Ultima spell. The man's body began to fade and dissipate, as if his molecules were separating from each other, leaving him as nothing but invisible ashes blowing in the cool night's ocean wind in Balamb.

Fujin leaned against the building's wall, her weapon clutched so tightly that the edges bit into her fingers and drew blood; she didn't even notice when Rinoa smiled and walked on, disappearing into her next patrol.

Fujin was not normally a squeamish person, and the sight of blood had no effect on her. But the cool relaxed way that Rinoa had _killed_ that man—and paused the spell in the middle of its wrath so that she could see her target suffer—caused the petite girl to stumble over to a trash can and regurgitate the cafeteria dinner that she had eaten only a few hours before. 

She didn't know what she was expecting when she followed Rinoa tonight. Theft, drugs, maybe even a lover on the side. But definitely not what she had just seen. 

Not bothering to keep her footsteps silent, Fujin fled back to Garden.

The next night she followed the Sorceress out again. Not because seeing people die gave her some sort of bloodlust pleasure but to be sure that she had seen right. 

She had seen right.

This time it wasn't even a rapist. It was just another kid—maybe only fifteen—trying to break into a convenience store. 

Fujin shut her eyes, remembering. After last night, she had run back to Garden as if she herself were a target. Once she jumped the gate and slipped past the guards, she slowed down, walking silently back into her dorm room.

She had been frightened when Rinoa appeared; she had forgotten that they shared the dorm room. When the Sorceress asked why she was still up, Fujin lied about a nightmare. 

But then Rinoa had smiled, said that there was nothing to be afraid of, it was just a dream. She was comforting her, when only an hour ago she was killing people. It scared Fujin, knowing that Rinoa could change her disposition so quickly.

For the second night in a row, she ran back to Garden.

The next morning, her hand hovered in the air, considering whether or not to knock on the door to Raijin and Seifer's room, then decided against it. They didn't believe her the first time, so why would they this time? She felt a bit guilty for snapping at Seifer, but it was the only way to get him to wake up. Except now, who did she have to tell this to?

Turning on her heel, she headed for the third floor. She never expected that she would be telling something like this to Squall before she told Seifer, but she found herself outside the office, with the new secretary, Jennifer, letting her pass through. She knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Fujin practically kicked the doors opened in her haste. "Leonhart." She growled, then calmed herself. After all, how was she supposed to tell him that his girlfriend had been killing people in the middle of the night? "There's something important I need to tell you."

He must have seen the urgency in her right eye, or heard the strange tone in her voice. He looked up from the papers on his desk and stared at her. "Well? What's the important news?"

She swallowed, shut the doors. "It will surprise you, but don't accuse me of lying. I've nothing to gain by lying to you about this."

"Very well."

"And I'm sorry that I have to tell you, but I figured you should probably be the first to know."

"Okay." Squall frowned. "What is it?"

Fujin considered how to say this. "You know that Rinoa has been sneaking out at night?"

"I didn't know that. The gatekeeper never reported it."

"The gatekeeper is always asleep when she passes. Not a coincidence. But that's not it. I followed her out for the past two nights. She's been doing things."

"Things like what?" 

"Killing people." Oops, that came out wrong. 

But to her eternal surprise, Squall didn't get upset or angry, instead he burst out laughing, stunning her into a dazed silence. "Fujin, you must be hallucinating. You said this happens at night, correct? It's probably just a dream then. Rinoa _can't_ be killing people. It's not possible. She's too…"

"If you're meaning to say weak, might I remind you that she's a full-fledged Sorceress and immensely powerful." She held her head high. "I'm not kidding and I'm not hallucinating. I'm sure that it's true."

Squall's smile had faded. "Fujin, this isn't funny."

"It isn't meant to be." She resisted the impulse to kick him. 

The SeeD commander considered her words and remembered. 

__

"Squall, what would you do if you knew someone had done something wrong but they did it for a good reason?"

"What happened? Who are you talking about?"

"Answer my question first."

"Well, I guess it would depend on the reason."

Hyne, I never even considered that possibility. But that was her way of telling me… But then again, I mean, come on, it's Rinoa_. She wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose, she's not physically able. But she has gotten stronger, and she's been thinking differently lately._

He was snapped out of the debate in his mind when Fujin spoke again, calmer this time.

"If you don't believe me, I can give you proof."

Squall frowned. "How?"

Quickly, she told him her plan.

"Fujin, I have to go out again tonight. If the others come looking for me, will you just tell them that I'm already asleep?" Rinoa asked, already standing at the doorway with her Shooting Star attached to her wrist.

"Yeah, sure." Fujin replied. _They won't come looking for you. They're already waiting for you._

"Thanks a lot. I'll see you later."

Rinoa passed through the streets of Balamb. This was the fifth night of her patrols here, and the villains were getting fewer and fewer. Maybe she was almost done with the patrols. Then she'd have to go to the next town and the next and the next until the world could be clean and pure again.

Her powers were acting up again for some reason, but she ignored the brief flashes of pain and continued through the alleys. 

She had just killed another rapist, and turned when she heard a clanking sound. There was a shape huddled by a doorway, trying to break into a house. Another one? Goddess, why couldn't they just find something else to do, or to try to get money decently?

"Flare." She whispered.

She was surprised when the spell bounced off the shape and towards her. She took half of it, her head snapping back, and caught the rest of it in her fist and absorbed the excess power. Who here had a Reflect spell, or more importantly, a GF?

Frowning, she grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. 

And gasped. 

"Squall?"

Author's Note: I have nothing personal against Xu. But I needed someone that was familiar but wasn't a main character to attack Rinoa, and she was the only one I thought of.


End file.
